Flexible assembly machine, system and method

ABSTRACT

An assembly machine includes a plurality of track modules, each track module including a section of track, the plurality of track modules connectable to form a continuous circuitous track, the continuous circuitous track configured to receive a dispensing head, the dispensing head configured to rotate about the continuous circuitous track and at least partially assemble an unfinished product. The machine includes a first feeder module attached to a first length of the continuous circuitous track configured to feed a component to the dispensing head, and a first placement module attached to a second length of the continuous circuitous track configured to receive the unfinished product. The dispensing head is configured to place the component on the unfinished product. The assembly machine is reconfigurable by attaching or removing one or more of the plurality of track modules, the first feeder module and the first placement module.

RELATED MATTERS

This Application claims priority to U.S. Nonprovisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/407,621, filed Dec. 12, 2014, Entitled “FlexibleAssembly Machine, System and Method,” which claims priority toInternational Application No. PCT/US13/48196, filed Jun. 27, 2013,entitled “Flexible Assembly Machine, System and Method,” which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/665,488, filedJun. 28, 2012, the disclosures of which are each hereby incorporated byreference to the extent that they are not inconsistent with the presentdisclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Technical Field

This invention relates generally to assembly machines, systems andmethods. More particularly, the present invention relates to an assemblymachine having a continuous track around which one or more dispensingheads rotate, along with systems and methods of use thereof

2. Related Art

Assembly machines today are typically designed for specific projects orpurposes and have specific throughputs, capacities, or the like. If amanufacturer needs a machine that has increased throughput or capacitythan their original machine is capable of, the manufacturer typicallyneeds to purchase a completely new machine. This problem is largelypresent today in pick and place machines for assembling circuit boardswith components.

A typical pick and place machine today includes a feeder system that islocated on an outer area of the machine for feeding components to aninner area of the machine where a circuit board is located. One or morepick and place heads on the machine are capable of moving in the x, y,and z directions to pick up components from the feeder system and placethe components onto the unfinished product or circuit board in the innerarea of the machine. The pick and place heads may be capable of movinganywhere in the work location between the feeders and where the board isbeing worked on. They are usually path-optimized to pick up as manycomponents as possible and place them on the board as quickly aspossible, returning to the feeders thereafter for more components.

However, assembly machines such as the pick and place machine describedare not customizable or incrementally expandable depending on therequirements of the unfinished product or circuit board manufacturer,other than adding a second positioning system. Moreover, in theparticular pick and place machine example, feeder systems need to beoptimally placed for each job for optimal assembly speed, which takes alarge degree of calculation, operating expertise, and makes change-overof the machine to another product take significantly longer.

Thus, an assembly machine, system and method of use thereof that can becustomizable and incrementally expanded that does not requirepredetermined feeder system positioning would be well received in theart.

Brief Description of the Disclosure

According to a first aspect, an assembly machine comprises: a pluralityof dispensing heads; and a continuous circuitous track around which theplurality of dispensing heads are configured to rotate independentlyfrom each other, the plurality of dispensing heads each configured topick up a component at a first location of the continuous track andplace the component at a second location of the continuous track.

According to a second aspect, a method of assembly comprises: providinga continuous circuitous track; providing a plurality of dispensingheads; rotating the plurality of dispensing heads about the continuouslycircuitous track independently from each other; picking up a componentat a first location of the track with a dispensing head of the pluralityof dispensing heads; and placing the component at a second location ofthe track by the dispensing head of the plurality of dispensing heads.

According to a third aspect, an assembly machine comprises: a pluralityof track modules, each track module including a section of track, theplurality of track modules connectable to form a continuous circuitoustrack, the continuous circuitous track configured to receive adispensing head, the dispensing head configured to rotate about thecontinuous circuitous track and at least partially assemble anunfinished product; a first feeder module attached to a first length ofthe continuous circuitous track configured to feed a component to thedispensing head; and a first placement module attached to a secondlength of the continuous circuitous track configured to receive theunfinished product, wherein the dispensing head is configured to placethe component on the unfinished product; wherein the assembly machine isreconfigurable by attaching or removing one or more of the plurality oftrack modules, the first feeder module and the first placement module.

According to a fourth aspect, a method of assembly comprises: providinga continuous circuitous track mounted across a plurality of trackmodules; receiving, by the continuous circuitous track, a dispensinghead; mounting a first feeder module to a first length of the continuouscircuitous track; mounting a first placement module to a second lengthof the continuous circuitous track; rotating the dispensing head aboutthe continuous circuitous track; at least partially assembling anunfinished product with the dispensing head; and reconfiguring theassembly machine by at least one of: attaching one or more of theplurality of track modules, the first feeder module and the firstplacement module; and removing one or more of the plurality of trackmodules, the first feeder module and the first placement module.

According to a fifth aspect, a pick and place machine for picking up andplacing a component onto a printed circuit board comprises: a continuouscircuitous track configured to receive a pick and place head, the pickand place head configured to rotate around the continuous circuitoustrack; a feeder module attached to a first length of the continuouscircuitous track, the pick and place head configured to pick up acomponent from the feeder module; and a placement module attached to asecond length of the continuous circuitous track configured to receive acircuit board for placement, the pick and place head configured to placethe component onto the unfinished product or circuit board.

According to a sixth aspect, a pick and place method comprises:providing a continuous circuitous track; attaching a pick and place headto the continuous circuitous track; rotating the pick and place headaround the continuously circuitous track; attaching a feeder module to afirst length of the continuous circuitous track; attaching a placementmodule to a second length of the continuous circuitous track; feeding acomponent from the feeder module to the pick and place head; and placingthe component on a circuit board located at the first placement module.

According to a seventh aspect, a pick and place head comprises: anattachment mechanism for attaching the pick and place head to acontinuous circuitous track such that the pick and place head is movablealong the continuous circuitous track; and a position sensing system forsensing the position of the pick and place head with respect to thecontinuous circuitous track in two or more dimensions.

According to an eighth aspect, a method comprises: providing a pick andplace head; attaching the pick and place head to a continuous circuitoustrack such that the pick and place head is movable along the continuouscircuitous track; sensing, by the pick and place head, the position ofthe pick and place head with respect to the continuous circuitous trackin two or more dimensions; picking up, by the pick and place head on thetrack, a component; and placing, by the pick and place head on thetrack, the component on an electronic assembly.

According to a ninth aspect, an assembly machine comprises: a track; adispensing head configured to at least partially assemble an unfinishedproduct; and a permanent magnet linear motor system located within thedispensing head and the track, wherein the permanent magnet linear motorsystem is configured to provide attachment of the dispensing head to thetrack and configured to provide motion of the dispensing head along thetrack.

According to a tenth aspect, an assembly method comprises: providing adispensing head; providing a track; providing a permanent magnet linearmotor system located within the dispensing head and the track;magnetically attaching the dispensing head to the track; magneticallymoving the dispensing head along the track; and at least partiallyassembling, with the dispensing head, an unfinished product.

According to an eleventh aspect, a dispensing head comprises: a controlsystem located in the dispensing head; an encoder read head located inthe dispensing head; and a light capture sensor located in thedispensing head configured to detect a light flash of a stationarycamera when it illuminates a component on the dispensing head or anelement of the dispensing head; wherein the control system is configuredto determine a precise encoder position with the encoder read head at amoment of the light flash; wherein the dispensing head is configured toat least partially assemble an unfinished product.

According to a twelfth aspect, a method comprises: providing adispensing head; providing a control system located in the dispensinghead; providing an encoder read head located in the dispensing head;providing a light capture sensor located in the dispensing head;providing a stationary camera; flashing a light by the stationary cameraat a component on the dispensing head or an element of the dispensinghead; determining, by the control system and the encoder read head, aprecise encoder position at the moment of the flash of light; and atleast partially assembling, by the dispensing head, an unfinishedproduct.

According to a thirteenth aspect, an assembly machine comprises: acontinuous circuitous track around which a dispensing head is configuredto rotate, the dispensing head configured to at least partially assemblean unfinished product; and an air distribution system located within thetrack configured to distribute air to the dispensing head.

According to a fourteenth aspect, an assembly method comprises:providing a continuous circuitous track; providing a dispensing headattached to the continuous circuitous track; rotating the dispensinghead around the continuous circuitous track; distributing air by thecontinuous circuitous track to the dispensing head; providing thedispensing heads with compressed air; and at least partially assembling,with the dispensing head, an unfinished product.

According to a fifteenth aspect, an assembly machine comprises: aplurality of dispensing heads; a continuous circuitous track aroundwhich the plurality of dispensing heads are configured to rotateindependently from each other, the plurality of dispensing heads eachconfigured to at least partially assemble an unfinished product; acontrol system; and a bus communication system configured to provideseparate communication between the control system and each of theplurality of dispensing heads, wherein each of the plurality ofdispensing heads is not connected to the control system with a separatewire.

According to a sixteenth aspect, an assembly method comprises: providinga continuous circuitous track; providing a plurality of dispensingheads; providing a control system; providing a bus communication system;rotating the plurality of dispensing heads about the continuouslycircuitous track independently from each other; at least partiallyassembling, with the plurality of dispensing heads, an unfinishedproduct; and separately communicating via the bus communication system,between the control system and each of the plurality of dispensingheads, wherein each of the plurality of dispensing heads is notconnected to the control system with a separate wire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of this invention will be described in detail, withreference to the following figures, wherein like designations denotelike members, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a top schematic view of an assembly machine according toone embodiment;

FIG. 2 depicts an exploded view of components and modules of theassembly machine of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts a top schematic view of another assembly machineaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts a top schematic view of another assembly machineaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a top schematic view of another assembly machineaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts a top schematic view of another assembly machineaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 7 depicts a top schematic view of another assembly machineaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 8 depicts a side cutaway view of a dispensing head attached to atrack of the assembly machine of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment;

FIG. 9A depicts front view of a positional measurement system of adispensing head according to one embodiment;

FIG. 9B depicts a side view of the positional measurement system of thedispensing head of FIG. 9A according to one embodiment;

FIG. 10 depicts a compressed air valve system in a track configured toprovide compressed air to a dispensing head according to one embodiment;and

FIG. 11 depicts a control system according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A detailed description of the hereinafter described embodiments of thedisclosed apparatus and method are presented herein by way ofexemplification and not limitation with reference to the Figures.

Referring to FIG. 1, a schematic view of an assembly machine 10 is shownaccording to one embodiment. The assembly machine 10 shown in theFigures may be a pick and place machine configured to assemble a circuitboard. However, the disclosure may be applicable to other types ofassembly machines such as toy assembly, tool assembly, applianceassembly, welding, adhesive applying, or the like. The assembly machine10 may be configured to assemble any device, apparatus or unfinishedproduct that needs component parts to be placed at predeterminedlocations or other finishing work applied. Herein “unfinished product”may refer to products which are unfinished at the time that they enterthe assembly machine 10 or any assembly machine 100, 200, 300, 400, 500described herein below. However, it should be understood that“unfinished products” may become finished by the assembly machines 10,100, 200, 300, 400, 500.

Alternately, the “unfinished product” may never become fully finished bythe assembly machines 10, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, as they may requirefurther assembly steps (not shown).

The assembly machine 10 includes two placement modules 12 a, 12 b, fourfeeder modules 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d, and seven dispensing heads 16 a,16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g. The dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may be pick and place heads for picking up andplacing component parts on a circuit board 18 a, 18 b. The dispensingheads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may also have otherfunctions such as inspection, dispensing of adhesive, or welding tools.Alternately, the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16g may be configured to pick up any other types of components for tools,toys, appliances or the like. Likewise, the feeder modules 14 a, 14 b,14 c, 14 d may be modules that feed circuit board components. Eachfeeder module 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d may include a plurality of feedersaligned adjacent to each other. Many other types of feeder modules arecontemplated however, for feeding various other types of component partsto dispensing heads. The feeder modules 14 a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d may alsoprovide adhesive, or welding materials to the dispensing heads 16 a, 16b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g. The placement module 12 a, 12 b, mayaccept circuit boards 18 a, 18 b or any other unfinished products forassembly.

The assembly machine 10 includes a track 22 that comprises a continuousloop, circuit, ring, circle or the like. The track 22 may be continuousand circuitous such that the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16e, 16 f, 16 g are configured to rotate about the track 22 in a singledirection. For example, all of the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may rotate about the track 22 in a clockwisedirection. Alternately, the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16e, 16 f, 16 g may rotate about the track 22 in a counterclockwisedirection. The dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 gmay be configured to pick up components stored in the feeder modules 14a, 14 b, 14 c, 14 d as they pass by along the track 22. The dispensingheads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may thereafter beconfigured to place the components on an unfinished product or circuitboard 18 a, 18 b that is located in either the first placement module 12a or the second placement module 12 b. After placement, the dispensingheads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may continue to rotateabout the track to pick up more components from the feeder modules 14 a,14 b, 14 c, 14 d and place them on the unfinished product or circuitboards 18 a, 18 b located in the placement modules 12 a, 12 b.

In the embodiment shown, the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16e, 16 f, 16 g may be configured to rotate about the track 22 in aclockwise direction D. The feeder modules 14 a and 14 b may beconfigured to provide component parts to the dispensing heads 16 a, 16b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g for placement on the unfinished productor circuit board 18 b in the placement module 12 b. In other words thefeeder modules may store the components for the placement module whichimmediately proceeds it in the direction of rotation. In this case, thefeeder modules 14 c and 14 d may be configured to provide componentparts to the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 gfor placement on the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a in theplacement module 12 a. In other words, the feeder modules 14 c and 14 din front of the placement module 12 a on the track may contain all ormost of the high-runner parts for the assembly on the unfinished productor circuit board 18 a. However, infrequent components could potentiallycome from the feeder module 14 a, 14 b that is at another part of thetrack. Thus, a dispensing head 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 gmay pick up a component in the feeder module 14 a, 14 b, and skip overthe first placement module 12 b and be instead programmed to place thepicked component in the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a locatedin the later placement module 12 a. In one embodiment, each dispensinghead 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may be configured to pickup a single component each revolution about the track 22. In otherembodiments, the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16g may be configured to pick up two or more components per revolution.

The dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may beconfigured to rotate about the track 22 at high rates of speed. Forexample, in one embodiment, the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d,16 e, 16 f, 16 g may move at a velocity of 5 m/s about the track. Inother embodiments, the speed of the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c,16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g may be faster or slower. Moreover, there may bemore or less dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 gthan the embodiment shown. The more of the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b,16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g per assembly machine 10, the faster theassembly machine 10 may be configured to place components on theunfinished product or circuit board 18 a, 18 b. Using a high number ofdispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g to ensure thata dispensing head is always above each unfinished product or circuitboard 18 a, 18 b being assembled may help to maximize the output of theassembly machine 10. It should be understood that adding an additionaldispensing head to the system may increase the speed of the assemblymachine 10 until there are so many dispensing heads that there is aqueue, backlog, line, or the like at the slowest step in the process. Insome embodiments, the slowest step may be the placement process when thedispensing head 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g is placing acomponent on the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a, 18 b but thisis not limiting. Therefore, the cycle time of the slowest step maydetermine the ultimate maximum speed of the assembly machine 10 that hasa maximum number of the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e,16 f, 16 g. Each additional dispensing head added to the assemblymachine 10 may add the same output to the system until a maximum numberof dispensing heads is reached and a queue or bottleneck at the sloweststep in the revolution occurs.

With the present assembly machine 10, steps can be added without slowingthe speed when these steps would significantly reduce the speed of amachine utilizing a traditional pick and place system. For example, thepresent system may allow for an adhesive station to be added after afeeder module. In a traditional single or dual placement head machine,an adhesive step occurring after a pickup step would significantly slowdown the machine. In contrast, the systems and machines in the presentdisclosure, could add such an adhesive step without slowing down theoverall system. Further, if speed needs to be increased beyond what apresent machine is capable even when a maximum number of dispensingheads are located on the machine, the systems in the present disclosurecould add a new placement module to further increase speed and number ofplacements per second in the system. The present disclosure thus is onlylimited in speed by the space for additional track components but isotherwise unlimited.

Complete X and Y degrees of freedom for the assembly machine 10 isachievable by movement of the unfinished product or circuit boards 18 a,18 b and movement of the dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e,16 f, 16 g. For example, the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a,18 b may be configured to move in the Y direction (from left to right orright to left in the embodiment shown) along a board handling track 20of the placement modules 12 a, 12 b. The dispensing heads 16 a, 16 b, 16c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g are configured to move in the X direction(from up to down or down to up in the embodiment shown). This ensuresaccess to the complete area of the unfinished product or circuit board18 a, 18 b in the placement area by the heads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16e, 16 f, 16 g. In one embodiment, the unfinished product or circuitboards 18 a, 18 b need to only move in one direction (for example, fromleft to right) without having to backtrack during placement. In otherembodiments, the unfinished product or circuit boards 18 a, 18 b may beconfigured to move backwards during placement to enhance theoptimization of placement.

As an example, a placement process of the unfinished product or circuitboard 18 a may begin by placing or receiving the unfinished product orcircuit board 18 a in the placement module 12 a. This may be done by anautomated process. For example, the unfinished product or circuit board18 a may come from a previous machine located to the left of theassembly machine 10 for enacting a previous assembly process on theunfinished product or circuit board. The unfinished product or circuitboard 18 a may be robotically placed in the placement module 12 a from asupply site. Alternately, the unfinished product or circuit board 18 amay be manually placed into the placement module 12 a. The dispensingheads 16 a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g of the assembly machine10 may be configured to pick up components from the feeder modules 14 a,14 b, 14 c, 14 d and place them on the leading side (or right side inFIG. 1) of the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a. As the leadingside of the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a becomes populated,it moves to the right along a product track 20. As the unfinishedproduct or circuit board 18 a moves to the right the dispensing heads 16a, 16 b, 16 c, 16 d, 16 e, 16 f, 16 g, which move across the unfinishedproduct or circuit board 18 a from bottom to top, may obtain access tothe full surface of the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a. Inthis embodiment, the unfinished product or circuit board 18 a may moveonly in the rightward direction during the population in the placementmodule 12 a. Alternately, the unfinished product or circuit board 18 amay move to the right and left during placement in order to betteroptimize the process.

The first and second placement modules 12 a, 12 b may include their ownproduct track 22 for transporting the unfinished product or circuitboard 18. In one embodiment, the component population placed at thefirst placement module 12 a may be only a portion or less than the fullpopulation to be placed on the entire circuit board 18 a. A boardhandling system 86 may be located between the placement module 12 a andthe placement module 12 b. The board handling system 86 may include itsown product track 20. The unfinished product or circuit board 18 a maymove to the second placement module 12 b along the product track 20 ofboard handling system 86. for the second half of the components to beplaced thereon. The assembly machine 10 may be configured to automatethe movement process of the unfinished product or circuit board 18 athroughout the entire process. Similar to the first placement module 12a, the unfinished product or circuit board may move from left to rightacross the second placement module 12 b or may move in both directions.

In other embodiments (as shown in FIG. 3, for example, and describedherein below), a single placement module, such as the placement module12 a or 12 b, may provide for full or complete population of eachcircuit board or other product. In these embodiments, the unfinishedproduct or circuit board or other product may be fed by the placementmodule in a first direction during placement. For example, the circuitboard or other unfinished product may move from left to right in theplacement module while the dispensing heads populate the circuit boardor other unfinished product. The circuit board or other unfinishedproduct may then be expelled from the placement module in the oppositedirection (right to left). Thus, the circuit board or other unfinishedproduct may be expelled from the exact same location from which it wasfed. In this case, the placement module 12 a, 12 b may include a loadand an unload system, rather than having a load system in the 12 amodule and an unload system in the 12 b module. In this embodiment, theboard handling system 86 may not be necessary to move the unfinishedproduct or circuit board or other product across the assembly machine10.

The systems described in the present invention are completely flexibleand customizable or extendable in nature as will be described herein.FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of various components of an assemblymachine such as the assembly machine 10. These components can be addedor subtracted from a system or utilized to create a customized systemfor any amount of output needed. Shown in FIG. 2 is an end track module52, a mid track module 50, a head 16, a circuit board 18, feeder module14, a tool or nozzle changer 54, a camera 56, a product track 20, and aplacement module 12. These components may each be the same as therespective components in the assembly machine 10 or later assemblymachines 100, 200, 300, 400 described hereinafter. The end track module52 and the mid track module 50 may each include a frame 95. The frame 95may be configured to hold the track modules 52, 50 and may be configuredto connect with adjacent frames of adjacent track modules.

The end track module 52 may include a frame and a U-shaped track. Theend track module 52 may contain one mounting interface 53 on thestraight part of the track where a placement module 12 or a feedermodule 14 may be mounted. Cameras and other stationary processingstations may also be mounted on the end track module 52. Likewise, themid track module 50 may provide a straight connection of the tracks onboth sides of the module 50. The module may have two separate straighttracks: one on each side of the module 50. Each of these tracks maycontain one mounting interface 53 for a placement module 12 or a feedermodule 14. Like the end track module 52, cameras or other stationaryprocessing stations may be mounted on the mid track module 50.

The placement module 12 may provide an interface that allows it to bemounted to a straight part of the track of an end module, or either sideof a middle module. In the case that the machine is configured for thepick and placement of components on a circuit board, this module maycontain a circuit board transport belt system, a circuit board clampsystem, and a circuit board support system. Each of these systems may bemounted on a high accuracy servo axis. A circuit board may be configuredto enter this module from another circuit board transport module, orfrom a circuit board magazine loader or unloader. A circuit board may bemoved to the clamping position by the unfinished product or circuitboard belt. Then the unfinished product or circuit board may be clampedand held in a fixed position on the belt. Following this, a circuitboard support system may be activated, containing pins for example, toprovide support to the unfinished product or circuit board. Theplacement module 12 may further include a width adjustment mechanism.The entire transport including the belts, drives, support system and awidth adjustment mechanism may be mounted on a linear bearing and a highaccuracy linear drive. The linear drive may be configured to move theunfinished product or circuit board into such positions that cameras onthe placement heads 16 may image marks on the unfinished product orcircuit board to ascertain the exact position of the unfinished productor circuit board with respect to the track 22. Upon completion ofcomponent placement at the placement module 12, the unfinished productor circuit board can be released from the unfinished product or circuitboard support, unclamped and the unfinished product or circuit boardtransport belt may transport the unfinished product or circuit board toanother transport belt or into a magazine loader/unloader. Alternately,the unfinished product or circuit board may be inserted by hand. Camerasand other stationary processing stations may be mounted on modules 12.

Referring still to FIG. 2, a high precision placement module 84 is shownwith a high accuracy circuit board handling transport system 85. Thistransport system 85 may include the product track 20, a circuit boardclamp system and circuit board support system which can be mounted on ahigh accuracy Y-drive system 87 in all four orientations: fixed railleft, back, right and front. This allows for a pass through mode andsingle side in-out mode as well as providing for an inline and onlinemode. To further simplify the different modes of transport of thecircuit board of unfinished product through the system, the placementmodules 12, 84 may be dimensioned such that two placement modules 12, 84mounted on each side of a middle track module 50 can be connected in thecenter of the middle track module 50 and unfinished products or circuitboards 18 may be passed directly from one placement module to the nextwithin the same middle track module 50, as shown later in FIG. 7.

The feeder module 14 may be mounted to the end track module 52 or themid track module 50 in the same way as the placement module 12. On thefeeder module 14, all the required component feeders may be mounted. Thefeeder interface module may contain controls for feeders to provide thecomponents so that they can be picked up appropriately by the placementheads 16.

Moreover, the mounting interface of the module frames for the feedermodules 14 and the placement modules 12, 84 may be identical for ease ofmounting on any track module 50, 52 during manufacturing. The identicalnature of the mounting frames may minimize tolerance build-up and allowfor the interchangeability of the feeder modules 14 and the placementmodules 12, 84 in any system. The feeder modules 14 and placementmodules 12, 84 may be built into lengths of the track 22 at themanufacturing stage and sold to customers together. These combinedfeeder module/track lengths and placement module/track lengths may beprovided to purchasers of an assembly machine for immediate addition toexisting track or machine, or for immediate construction of a customizedtrack or machine. However, the placement module 12, 84 may furtherinclude an attached tool or nozzle changer 54 and camera 56, or otherprocessing stations (i.e. component straightener, flux dispenser,electrical tester, etc.) to facilitate a placement cycle.

Thus, the assembly machine may include a plurality of track modules 50,52, each module 50, 52 containing a section of the track 22. Theplurality of modules 50, 52 may be connectable to form a continuouscircuitous track such as the track 22. The continuous circuitous track22 may be configured to receive a dispensing head 16 which is configuredto rotate about the continuous circuitous track 22 and at leastpartially assemble the unfinished product 18. The feeder modules 14 maybe attached to a first length of the continuous circuitous track 22 andmay be configured to feed a component to the dispensing head 16. Thecomponent may be an electronic component, tool head, weld material,adhesive, or anything provided from the feeder modules 14 to thedispensing head 16. The placement module 12, 84 may be attached to asecond length of the continuous circuitous track 22 and may beconfigured to receive an unfinished product such as the unfinishedproduct or circuit board 18. The dispensing head may be configured toplace the component on the unfinished product. The track 22 may thus bereconfigurable by attaching ore removing one or more of the plurality ofmodules 50, 52 of the track 22. The reconfiguration may be enabled byattaching or removing the one or more modules 50, 52 to accommodate orremove additional placement modules 12, 84 and feeder modules 14. Thecontinuous circuitous track 22 may be reconfigurable without machiningor other permanent alteration processes. Moreover, the continuouscircuitous track 22 may be reconfigurable with standard hand tools suchas screw drivers, wrenches, pliers and the like.

Still further, a method of assembly contemplated by the presentdisclosure may include providing a continuous circuitous track, such asthe track 22, mounted across a plurality of modules, such as the modules50, 52. The method may include receiving, by the continuous circuitoustrack, a dispensing head, such as the dispensing head 16. The method mayinclude mounting a first feeder module, such as the feeder module 14, toa first length of the track 22. The method may include mounting a firstplacement module, such as the placement module 12, to a second length ofthe track 22. The method may include at least partially assembling anunfinished product, such as the unfinished product or circuit board 18,with the dispensing head. The method may further include reconfiguringthe continuous circuitous track by either: A) attaching one or more ofthe modules of the track; or B) removing one or more of the modules ofthe track. The method may further include providing an assembly machineand reconfiguring the assembly machine by removing a feeder modules andreplacing it with a placement module or removing a placement module andreplacing it with a feeder module. The method may further includereconfiguring the assembly machine by adding one or more feeder modulesor removing one or more feeder modules. The method may further includereconfiguring the assembly machine by adding one or more placementmodules or removing one or more placement modules.

The flexibility, customizablity and extendability of the machines andsystems described herein may be displayed with reference to theembodiments shown in FIGS. 3-6. Referring firstly to FIG. 3, anotherassembly machine 100 is shown. This assembly machine 100 may be anexample of the simplest machine that may be created in accordance withthe present disclosure. The assembly machine 100 may include two endmodules 52 of track. Integrated or attached to one of the end modules 52is a feeder module 114 a. Integrated or attached to the second opposingend module 52 is a placement module 184. The placement module 184includes the board handling system 85. Two board handling systems 186may be provided in this Figure. These board handling systems 186 may bemounted to the assembly system 100 and may provide the ability totransport unfinished product or circuit boards 18 to and from assemblymachine 100. The system is shown including two dispensing heads 116 a,116 b. A first dispensing head 116 a is shown picking a component fromthe feeder module 114 a, and a second dispensing head 116 b is shownplacing a component on the unfinished product or circuit board 18. Themachine 100 may therefore be a low cost machine with a limited outputcompared to larger machines with more modules and dispensing heads.However, the components 112, 114, 116, 52, 22, 156, 154 of the machine100 are the same components that may be utilized in larger machines witha longer track.

Referring now to FIG. 4, another assembly machine 200 is shown. Theassembly machine 200 may be an example of a system which requires manydifferent feeder modules. In particular, the assembly machine 200includes seven feeder modules 214 a, 214 b, 214 c, 214 d, 214 e, 214 f,214 g with a single placement module 212. The assembly machine 200includes two end track modules 52 and three mid track modules 50.Moreover, the assembly machine 200 includes six dispensing heads 216 a,216 b, 216 c, 216 d, 216 e, 216 f. In this embodiment, because there isonly a single placement module 212, the placement module 212 may beconfigured for both loading and unloading without the need for a producttrack 20 or transport system.

It should be understood that the assembly machine 200 may be created bymodifying or extending the assembly machine 100 of FIG. 3. For example,the end track modules 52 of the assembly machine 100 may be separated.Thereafter, three mid track modules 50, each having an integrated orattached feeder module 214, may be placed between each of the top andbottom ends of the end track modules 52. Then, once the track 22 iscompleted, four additional dispensing heads 216 may be added to includesix in total.

FIG. 5 shows another assembly machine 300. The assembly machine 300 mayinclude three feeder modules 314 a, 314 b, 314 c. The assembly machine300 may include four dispensing heads 316 a, 316 b, 316 c, 316 d. Theassembly machine 300 may include a single placement module 312. Theassembly machine 300 may be created by modifying the assembly machine200 or the assembly machine 100. For example, to create the assemblymachine 300 from the assembly machine 200, one need only remove two midtrack modules 50 on each of the top and bottom of the assembly machine200 with their respective feeder modules 214 c, 214 d, 214 e, 214 f.Additionally, two dispensing heads 216 a and 216 b may be removed,leaving the four shown on the assembly machine 300. Similarly, mid trackmodules 50 with feeder modules 314 may be added to the assembly machine100, along with two additional dispensing heads to create the assemblymachine 300.

Referring now to FIG. 6, another assembly machine 400 is shown. Theassembly machine 400 includes five feeder modules 414 a, 414 b, 414 c,414 d, 414 e, nine dispensing heads 416 a, 416 b, 416 c, 416 d, 416 e,416 f, 416 g, 416 h, 416 i, and three placement modules 412 a, 412 b,412 c. The placement modules 412 a, 412 b, 412 c are shown withdifferent sized unfinished products or circuit boards 418 a, 418 b, 418c. For example, the placement modules 412 a includes the smallestcircuit board 418 a. The placement modules 412 b includes the largestcircuit board 418 b. The placement modules 412 c includes a mid-sizedcircuit board 418 c. Thus, it should be understood that a singleassembly machine may accommodate assembly of various different kinds ofcircuit boards or other products. Each of these placement modules 412 a,412 b, 412 c may include their own loading and unloading systems, andtheir own unfinished product or circuit board magazine loader orunloader systems for automatically or manually providing more unfinishedproducts or circuit boards to the placement modules 412 a, 412 b, 412 c.

The assembly machines shown in this disclosure have varying sizes andcomponents. However, it should be understood that the principles of thepresent disclosure may be utilized to create machines with no limit insize. Any length of track and any number of feeder modules and placementmodules and dispensing heads are contemplated. Moreover, the placementmodules may both load and unload circuit boards at the same location.Alternately, a first placement module may load a circuit board for aninitial placement cycle, and then provide the unfinished product orcircuit board to a second placement module for a second placement cyclevia a product track 20.

Another assembly machine 500 is shown in FIG. 7. This assembly machine500 may be considered a “factory machine” in that there are fourdifferent assembly lines 550, 552, 554, 556 in the machine 500. Theassembly machine 500 includes eight placement modules 512 a, 512 b, 512c, 512 d, 512 e, 512 f, 512 g, 512 h. The assembly machine 500 includeseighteen feeder modules 514 a, 514 b, 514 c, 514 d, 514 e, 514 f, 514 g,514 h, 514 i, 514 j, 514 k, 5141, 514 m, 514 n, 514 o, 514 p, 514 q, 514r. The assembly machine 500 includes nineteen dispensing heads 516 a,516 b, 516 c, 516 d, 516 e, 516 f, 516 g, 516 h, 516 i, 516 j, 516 k,5161, 516 m, 516 n, 516 o, 516 p, 516 q, 516 r, 516 s. The assemblylines 550, 552, 554, 556 may be configured to each assemble a differentkind of circuit board or other unfinished product. In this case, thecircuit board or other unfinished products may move from the topplacement module 512 a, 512 c, 512 e, 512 g to the bottom placementmodule 512 b, 512 d, 512 f, 512 h along the product tracks 20. Boardhandling systems 586 may be attached to each end of the assembly linesand may be attached to the placement modules 512 a, 512 b, 512 c, 512 d,512 e, 512 f, 512 g, 512 h to facilitate transport of the unfinishedproduct or circuit boards. This machine displays a system in which theproduct tracks 20 are located between the ends of a single mid module,rather than across multiple mid modules.

It should be understood that a system or machines 10, 100, 200, 300,400, 500 provided in accordance with the present disclosure may not belimited in speed by the number of feeder modules 14, 114, 214, 314, 414,514 that are necessary. In other words, lengthening the amount of track22 will not slow down the output of the machine 10, 100, 200, 300, 400,500 if an appropriate number of dispensing heads 16, 116, 216, 316, 416,516 are added to the system to compensate for the additional length.Moreover, the output of the system or machine 10, 100, 200, 300, 400,500 may be independent of the location or position of each feeder orfeeder module 14, 114, 214, 314, 414, 514. A full cycle of a dispensinghead 16, 116, 216, 316, 416, 516 takes the same amount of time,independent of where the dispensing head 16, 116, 216, 316, 416, 516needs to pick up a component from a feeder. This also means that in thepresent assembly machine 10, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, a feeder module14, 114, 214, 314, 414, 514 does not need to be moved to anotherposition during a changeover. Optimization of the assembly machines 10,100, 200, 300, 400, 500 described herein can be accomplished byminimizing the movement of the unfinished product or circuit board 18 orother product being provided with the component parts. This optimizationprovides for a gentle movement of the unfinished product or circuitboard 18, 118, 218, 318, 418, 518 or other product while the dispensingheads 16, 116, 216, 316, 416, 516 in the system have high accelerationand deceleration rates, and move at high rates of speed.

Still further, the systems or machines 10, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 inaccordance with the present disclosure may be scalable for speed. Everydispensing head 16, 116, 216, 316, 416, 516 may go through a completepick and place cycle at a predictable time. This time may be determinedby a length of the track and the number of stops or slowdowns made bythe dispensing heads 16, 116, 216, 316, 416, 516. In a typical cycle,there may be four steps: a pick up stop, a vision/camera stop, slowdownor station, a placement stop, and a nozzle change stop. The length ofthe track may be determined by the number of feeder modules 14, 114,214, 314, 414, 514 and/or placement modules 12, 84, 184, 212, 312, 412,512 per pick and place cycle. By adding placement modules 12, 84, 184,212, 312, 412, 512, the speed of the machines 10, 100, 200, 300, 400,500 per dispensing head along the same length of track may be increased.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a side cutaway view of one of the dispensingheads 16 is shown attached to the track 22. It should be understood thatthe dispensing head 16 may be the exact same head as any of thedispensing heads 16, 116, 216, 316, 416, 516. In the embodiment shown,it should be understood that the dispensing head 16 may include a base24, a linear motor coil unit 26, a bearing system 28, a spindle 30, anozzle 31, a z-axis drive 32, an encoder read head 33, a control andpower system 34, a contact rail 35, a tool or nozzle changer 36, and anair seal 37. The track 22 may refer to a magnet rail 38, a frame 40, abearing rail 42 and an air distribution system 43. Thus, the track 22may be magnetic and may include a permanent magnetic motor 44 thatincludes the linear motor coil unit 26 of the dispensing head 16 and themagnet rail 38 of the track 22. The magnet rail 38 may comprise manymagnets placed adjacent to each other. The magnetic rail 38, inconjunction with the linear motor coil unit 26 in the dispensing head 16may be able to move the dispensing head 16 on the track 22. Alternately,the track 22 may comprise a plurality of coils, while the dispensinghead 16 may comprise the permanent magnets.

The frame 40 of the track 22 may function to provide support for thetrack 22 and the dispensing head 16. The frame 40 may be made of metal,cast iron, stainless steel, wood, or any material that is capable ofsupporting the track 22. The frame 40 may be curved at different pointsalong its length in order to accommodate the circuitous track 22. Thecurve of the track 22 and frame 40 however, should account for cornersor curves that have a large enough radius so that the linear motor 44 isstill able to function well enough to provide the required amount ofacceleration, deceleration and velocity on the dispensing head 16.

Attached to the frame 40 around the entire length of the track 22 may bethe magnet rail 38. The magnet rail 38 may be part of the permanentmagnet linear motor 44. The magnet rail 38 of permanent magnetic motor44 in conjunction with the linear motor coil unit 26 may exact motion ofthe dispensing head 16 about the track 22. The permanent magnet linearmotor system 26, 38, 44 may be programmable to independently drive theplurality of dispensing heads 16 on the track 22. The linear motor coilunit 26 may be an iron core coil unit. In addition, the magnet rail 38,in conjunction with the linear motor coil unit 26, may be an attachmentmechanism for attaching the pick and place head 16 to the track 22. Inother embodiments, the permanent magnet linear motor 44 may be replacedby other drive and attachment mechanism means such as a switchreluctance linear motor. In yet another embodiment, the permanent magnetlinear motor 44 may be replaced with driven wheels. In still anotherembodiment, the dispensing heads 16 may include a moving permanentmagnet and the track 22 may instead include a plurality of stationaryiron core coils or linear motor coils. In the case that drive wheelsinstead of magnets were used, additional rails may be necessary to keepthe dispensing heads 16 on the track 22. In this case, there may need tobe additional rails to keep the dispensing heads 16 from falling off thetrack 22. In the embodiment where the permanent magnet linear motor 44is used, the dispensing heads 16 may be attached to the track 22 by themagnetic attraction of the linear motor coil unit 26. In thisembodiment, adding a dispensing head to the system may be as simple assnapping the dispensing head into place on the track 22 and thenactivating it by a control system of the assembly machine 10 or track22.

An assembly method is also contemplated which may include providing adispensing head, such as the dispensing head 16. The method may furtherinclude providing a track, such as the track 22. The method may includeproviding a permanent magnet linear motor system, such as the system 26,38, 44, located within the dispensing head and the track. The method mayinclude magnetically attaching the dispensing head to the track,magnetically moving the dispensing head along the track, and at leastpartially assembling, with the dispensing head, an unfinished product,such as the unfinished product or circuit board 18. The dispensing head16 may include a contact rail 35. The contact rail 35 may be configuredto contact a part of the frame 40 of the track 22 that carries power,electricity or other electrical signals. Thus, the track 22 may beconfigured to provide power to the dispensing heads 16 from the contactrail 35. The contact rail 35 is shown consisting of two contactlocations in FIG. 8. However, it should be understood that the contactrail 35 may include more than two contacts. For example, the contactrail 35 may include 2-10 contact locations. Moreover, this may allowcommunications from a control system of the track 22 or the assemblymachine 10 to be sent to the dispensing head 16. The contact rail 35 mayinclude contacts 35 a, 35 b for sending power and communication signals.In other embodiments, communication may be provided from the controlsystem of the track 22 or assembly machine 10 may communicate wirelesslywith the dispensing head 16 through Wi-Fi, Zigbee or the like.

The assembly machine 10 may thus include a control system 1000 (shownmore particularly herein below in FIG. 11) which may be located withinone or more of the placement modules 12, 84, 184, 212, 312, 412, 512 forexample. The assembly machine 10 may thus include a bus communicationsystem configured to provide separate communication between controlsystem 1000 and each of the dispensing heads 16. Each of the separateplurality of dispensing heads 16 may not be connected to the controlsystem 1000 with a separate wire. Instead, they may be connected withthe bus system which may provide data packets to targeted dispensingheads 16, for example.

In another embodiment, a method is contemplated, which may includeproviding a continuous circuitous track, such as the track 22. Themethod may include providing a plurality of dispensing heads, such asthe dispensing heads 16. The method may further include providing acontrol system, such as the control system 1000. The method may furtherinclude providing a bus communication system. The method may theninclude rotating the plurality of dispensing heads about the trackindependently from each other and at least partially assembling anunfinished product, such as the unfinished product or circuit board 18,with the dispensing heads. The method may include communicationseparately via the bus communication system between the control systemand each of the plurality of dispensing heads. Each of the plurality ofdispensing heads may not be connected to the control system with aseparate wire.

The dispensing head 16 may further include a bearing system 28 forrunning the dispensing head 16 around the track 22. The bearing system28 may be a cam follower bearing or other type of bearing system.Because the bearing system 28 may cause the dispensing head 16 to lackthe required positional accuracy, in one configuration the dispensinghead 16 may be configured to measure its own position with respect tothe track 22 or frame 40. This embodiment is shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B.In this embodiment, the dispensing head 16 may include a positionsensing system 59 for sensing the position of the pick and place head 16or the attachment mechanism of the pick and place head with respect tothe track 22 that may include a first sensor 60, a second sensor 61, athird sensor 62, and a fourth sensor 63, which may be of the inductive,capacitive, laser or other distance measuring technology. In otherembodiments, the position sensing system 59 may be a motion sensingsystem. The position sensing system 59 may be configured to sense theposition, and/or the rotation, of the spindle 30 with respect to thetrack. The first and second sensors 60, 61 may be configured todetermine rotation in a first plane, defined by rotation R1. The thirdand fourth sensors 62, 63 may be configured to determine rotation in asecond plane that is perpendicular to the first plane, defined byrotation R2. Other embodiments may include more than four sensors. Inone embodiment, six sensors may be utilized to continuously sense theposition of the dispensing head 16 or the spindle 30 with respect to thetrack. This position sensing system 59 may provide sub-micron accuracyand may include a sub micron linear encoder head 64 that senses theposition of the dispensing head 16 with respect to the track 22.Overall, this position sensing system 59 may enable the position of thenozzle 31 of the dispensing head 16 with respect to the track 22 orframe 40 to be known and corrected.

Moreover, a method is contemplated which may include providing a pickand place head such as the pick and place head 16. The method mayinclude attaching the pick and place head to a track, such as the track22, such that the pick and place head is moveable along the track. Themethod may include sensing, by the pick and place head, the position ofthe pick and place head with respect to the track. The method may theninclude picking up, by the pick and place head on the track, a componentand placing, by the pick and place head, the component on an electronicassembly, such as the unfinished product or circuit board 18.

Referring back to FIG. 8, the dispensing head 16 may include an air seal37 while the track 22 may include an air distribution system 43. Thisair distribution system 43 of the track 22 is shown in FIG. 10. In orderto provide compressed air to the moving dispensing head 16, thedispensing head would either need its own compressed air supply, or haveit provided by the track 22 or assembly machine 10. In the embodimentdepicted, the track includes an air distribution system 43 which wrapsaround the entire track 22. The air distribution system 43 may be aconduit which includes air valves 70, shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, in thetrack 22. As shown in FIG. 10, the air valves 70 may be spread acrossthe track 22 at regular or non-regular locations where the dispensinghead 16 may need to be activated. The track 22 may further include airtransfer holes 72 through which the air is transferred to the dispensinghead 16 once a valve 70 is opened. The dispensing head 16 may include asliding shoe component 74 which receives the air and expels the air tothe rest of the head out an opening 76. The valves 70 may be configuredto open only when the sliding shoe component 74 of the dispensing head16 is lined up with the valve 70. The air valves 70 may provide air fromthe air distribution system 43 to the dispensing head 16 for activationof the nozzle 31, for example. The valves 70 may be activated by asensor that is triggered by the moving dispensing head 16, andparticularly the sliding shoe component 74 of the dispensing head 16being located over the valve 70. The sliding shoe component 74 or pocketmay have a length that is greater than two times the distance betweenvalves 70 to assure redundancy in the system. It should be understoodthat the air distribution system 43 may refer to any of the sliding shoecomponent 74, the valves 70, the air transfer holes 72, the nozzles 31,or the conduits within the track 22 (not shown) which distribute the airwithin the track. The air distribution system 43 may be configured todistribute air to the dispensing heads 16 at any location along thecontinuous circuitous track while the dispensing head 16 is moving orstationary. The air distribution system 43 may be configured toalternately provide air to the dispensing head at a plurality oflocations along the track 22, but not at every location.

Moreover, an assembly method may include providing a continuouscircuitous track, such as the track 22. The method may include providinga dispensing head, such as the dispensing head 16, attached to thecontinuous circuitous track. The method may include rotating thedispensing head around the track and distributing air by the track tothe dispensing head. The method may include providing the dispensingheads with compressed air, and at least partially assembling, with thedispensing heads, an unfinished product, such as the unfinished productor circuit board 18.

The dispensing head 16 may include a nozzle 31. The nozzle 31 may be avacuum or gripper nozzle. The nozzle 31 may be changeable with the toolor nozzle changer 36 in the dispensing head 16, or by visiting astationary tool changer station, such as the tool changer 54, both wellknown in the art.

In one embodiment, the dispensing head 16 may be configured to move overthe camera 56 located on the placement module 12, 84, 184, 212, 312,412, 512 prior to placement. This may enable vision inspection andcentering of the component. This camera 56 may be configured to take apicture of the component while the component is moving over the top ofthe camera by using a light feature to freeze the image in motion. Afterthis picture is taken, the camera may now have obtained a picture of thecomponent's features that need to be lined up with features on theunfinished product or circuit board 18. To be able to line up thefeatures of the component with the unfinished product or circuit board,it is necessary to obtain the exact position of the placement head atthe moment that the image was acquired by the camera 56 during the lightflash. Since the connection to the dispensing head 16 consists of a bus,there is a latency in this connection and a new way of capturing theexact position of the head during the image acquisition is contemplatedby the present disclosure. For this the placement head 16 may beequipped with a light capture sensor 46 that is configured to detect alight flash from the camera 56 when it illuminates the component carriedby the dispensing head 16 or an element of the dispensing head 16. Thislight sensor 46 is connected to the local control system on thedispensing head 16, which can instantly read the precise encoderposition at the moment of the light flash of the dispenser head 16 bymeans of the encoder read head 33, also mounted on the dispensing head16. Now the exact position of the dispensing head 16 during imageacquisition can be transmitted over the bus to the placement module.This enables the X correction of the placement 12, 84, 184, 212, 312,412, 512 by the placement head linear motor drive system 26, 38 and theY correction by the product track 20 or the high accuracy transportsystem 85 for the unfinished product or circuit board 18.

A method may also include providing a dispensing head, such as thedispensing head 16. The method may include providing a control systemlocated in the dispensing head. The method may include providing a lightcapture sensor, such as the sensor 46, located in the dispensing head.The method may include providing a stationary camera, such as the camera56. The method may include flashing a light by the stationary camera atthe component on the dispensing head or flashing the light at an elementof the dispensing head. The method may then include determining, by thecontrol system, a precise encoder position at the moment of the flash oflight. The method may also include at least partially assembling, by thedispensing head, an unfinished product, such as the unfinished productor circuit board 18.

The dispensing heads 16 of the present disclosure may be capable forpicking and placing many types of components without impacting orreducing the overall speed of the system. Each dispensing head 16 mayplace components with all size ranges and dimensions. Spindle counts mayalso be reduced on each individual dispensing head 16 because the traveltime to the board does not need to be amortized over many placements perhead as is the case in state of the art systems. Creating heads with12-30 spindles requires the component size capable of being accepted bya given dispensing head to be severely limited. Thus, in state of theart systems, many different heads are needed to place the entire rangeof components. Since the dispensing heads do not need to return, fewerspindles with larger component capabilities can be realized compared toother typical systems. Each dispensing head 16 may also be able to placecomponents with a large placement force range. This allows for a machinewhere only one type of dispensing head 16 may enable high speedcompletion of the entire placement task.

It should be understood that other heads than the dispensing heads 16disclosed herein may be utilized. For example, the heads 16 may bewelding, screw driving, hammering, or the like. Moreover, other shapesfor the end track module 52 and the mid track module 50 are contemplatedfor the track. Any shape track that will allow heads to cycle may beappropriate for the systems and machines disclosed herein.

In another embodiment, the system or assembly machine may not include acompletely continuous track. Rather, there may be a turn-aroundmechanism at each end of a long straight track. This may be particularlyadvantageous in systems using only a single dispensing head. In oneembodiment, a rotating mechanism may pick up a head and rotate the headby 90 or 180 degrees around a vertical axis and then drop the head backon the track. This may be able to create more compact cycles for heads,minimizing the footprint of the system.

In another embodiment, a dispensing head of the system may carrymultiple spindles with multiple nozzles. The multiple spindles may allowfor a dispensing head to pick up multiple components for placementduring each cycle. For example, a dispensing head with three spindleassemblies may pick up three components from three different feederbanks before moving to the placement module. This may help to increasethe potential output of the system or assembly machine for the samemotion parameters and number of heads.

In yet another embodiment, the placement module 12, 84, 184, 212, 312,412, 512 may contain its own control system for the entire assemblymachine 10, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500. In the case of multiple stations(for example 12 a and 12 b in FIG. 1), one station is the master and maycontrol the dispatching heads to take to tasks for other placementstations. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, for example, the placementmodule 12 a may house the control system for the entire machine, whileplacement module 12 b may be a slave placement module with a controlsystem to control only the placement module 12 b.

In another embodiment, the placement module 12, 84, 184, 212, 312, 412,512 may contain two or more independently moving circuit board or othermounting surface tables. This dual or triple lane configuration (ormore) may also cause the need for dual or triple product tracks 20 (ormore). More than one lane may optimize the changeover time betweencircuit boards or other products. For example, the next circuit boardmay be placed in position while the first circuit board is beingassembled. This may be particularly important for the case where theunfinished product or circuit board as a low number of components to beplaced and thus short tact-time between circuit boards.

Referring now to FIG. 11, the structure of a computer system andcomputer program code that may be used to implement any of the methodsdescribed herein and which may represent the control system 1000 oralternately may represent any control or computer system located withinthe dispensing head 16.

Aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore,in one embodiment, the present disclosure may take the form of acomputer program product comprising one or more physically tangible(e.g., hardware) computer-readable medium(s) or devices havingcomputer-readable program code stored therein, said program codeconfigured to be executed by a processor of a computer or control systemto implement the methods of the present invention. In one embodiment,the physically tangible computer readable medium(s) and/or device(s)(e.g., hardware media and/or devices) that store said program code, saidprogram code implementing methods of the present invention, do notcomprise a signal generally, or a transitory signal in particular.

Any combination of one or more computer-readable medium(s) or devicesmay be used. The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readablesignal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. Thecomputer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable storage medium or device may include the following: anelectrical connection, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), Radio FrequencyIdentification tag, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM),an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, acomputer-readable storage medium may be any physically tangible mediumor hardware device that can contain or store a program for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer-readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer-readable program code embodied therein, for example, abroadcast radio signal or digital data traveling through an Ethernetcable. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms,including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic signals, optical pulses,modulation of a carrier signal, or any combination thereof.

Program code embodied on a computer-readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wirelesscommunications media, optical fiber cable, electrically conductivecable, radio-frequency or infrared electromagnetic transmission, etc.,or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including, but not limited to programminglanguages like Java, Smalltalk, and C++, and one or more scriptinglanguages, including, but not limited to, scripting languages likeJavaScript, Perl, and PHP. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN), awide area network (WAN), an intranet, an extranet, or an enterprisenetwork that may comprise combinations of LANs, WANs, intranets, andextranets, or the connection may be made to an external computer (forexample, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

Aspects of the present disclosure are described above and below withreference to apparatus (systems) and computer program products accordingto embodiments of the present invention. It will be understood that thecontrol system 1000 or dispensing head control system may beoperationally implemented by computer program instructions. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor of ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data-processing apparatus to produce a machine, such thatthe instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer orother programmable data-processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmabledata-processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture, including instructions thatimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data-processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus, or other devices to produce acomputer-implemented process such that the instructions that execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

In FIG. 11, the control system 1000 or dispensing head control systemmay comprise a processor 1003 coupled through one or more I/O Interfaces1009 to one or more hardware data storage devices 1011 and one or moreI/O devices 1013 and 1015.

Hardware data storage devices 1011 may include, but are not limited to,magnetic tape drives, fixed or removable hard disks, optical discs,storage-equipped mobile devices, and solid-state random-access orread-only storage devices. I/O devices may comprise, but are not limitedto: input devices 1013, such as keyboards, scanners, handheldtelecommunications devices, touch-sensitive displays, tablets, biometricreaders, joysticks, trackballs, or computer mice; and output devices1015, which may comprise, but are not limited to printers, plotters,tablets, mobile telephones, displays, or sound-producing devices. Datastorage devices 1011, input devices 1013, and output devices 1015 may belocated either locally or at remote sites from which they are connectedto I/O Interface 1009 through a network interface.

Processor 1003 may also be connected to one or more memory devices 1005,which may include, but are not limited to, Dynamic RAM (DRAM), StaticRAM (SRAM), Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), Field-ProgrammableGate Arrays (FPGA), Secure Digital memory cards, SIM cards, or othertypes of memory devices.

At least one memory device 1005 contains stored computer program code1007, which is a computer program that comprises computer-executableinstructions. The stored computer program code includes a program thatimplements a method for the efficient selection of runtime rules forprogrammable search in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention, and may implement other embodiments described in thisspecification. The data storage devices 1011 may store the computerprogram code 1007. Computer program code 1007 stored in the storagedevices 1011 is configured to be executed by processor 1003 via thememory devices 1005. Processor 1003 executes the stored computer programcode 1007.

Thus the present invention discloses a process for supporting computerinfrastructure, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deployingcomputer-readable code into the control system 1000 or dispensing headcontrol system, wherein the code in combination with the control system1000 or dispensing head control system may be capable of performing amethod for the efficient selection of runtime rules for programmablesearch.

Any of the components of the present disclosure and the control system1000 or dispensing head control system may be created, integrated,hosted, maintained, deployed, managed, serviced, supported, etc. by aservice provider who offers to facilitate a method for the efficientselection of runtime rules for programmable search. Thus the presentinvention discloses a process for deploying or integrating computinginfrastructure, comprising integrating computer-readable code into thecontrol system 1000 or dispensing head control system, wherein the codein combination with the control system 1000 or dispensing head controlsystem may be capable of performing a method for the efficient selectionof runtime rules for programmable search.

One or more data storage units 1011 (or one or more additional memorydevices not shown in FIG. 1) may be used as a computer-readable hardwarestorage device having a computer-readable program embodied thereinand/or having other data stored therein, wherein the computer-readableprogram comprises stored computer program code 1007. Generally, acomputer program product (or, alternatively, an article of manufacture)of control system 1000 or dispensing head control system may comprisesaid computer-readable hardware storage device.

While it is understood that program code 1007 for executing the methodsdescribed herein may be deployed by manually loading the program code1007 directly into client, server, and proxy computers (not shown) byloading the program code 1007 into a computer-readable storage medium(e.g., computer data storage device 1011), program code 1007 may also beautomatically or semi-automatically deployed into control system 1000 ordispensing head control system by sending program code 1007 to a centralserver (e.g., control system 1000 or dispensing head control system) orto a group of central servers. Program code 1007 may then be downloadedinto client computers (not shown) that will execute program code 1007.

Alternatively, program code 1007 may be sent directly to the clientcomputer via e-mail. Program code 1007 may then either be detached to adirectory on the client computer or loaded into a directory on theclient computer by an e-mail option that selects a program that detachesprogram code 1007 into the directory.

Another alternative is to send program code 1007 directly to a directoryon the client computer hard drive. If proxy servers are configured, theprocess selects the proxy server code, determines on which computers toplace the proxy servers' code, transmits the proxy server code, and theninstalls the proxy server code on the proxy computer. Program code 1007is then transmitted to the proxy server and stored on the proxy server.

In one embodiment, program code 1007 for executing the methods describedherein is integrated into a client, server and network environment byproviding for program code 1007 to coexist with software applications(not shown), operating systems (not shown) and network operating systemssoftware (not shown) and then installing program code 1007 on theclients and servers in the environment where program code 1007 willfunction.

The first step of the aforementioned integration of code included inprogram code 1007 is to identify any software on the clients andservers, including the network operating system (not shown), whereprogram code 1007 will be deployed that are required by program code 107or that work in conjunction with program code 1007. This identifiedsoftware includes the network operating system, where the networkoperating system comprises software that enhances a basic operatingsystem by adding networking features. Next, the software applicationsand version numbers are identified and compared to a list of softwareapplications and correct version numbers that have been tested to workwith program code 1007. A software application that is missing or thatdoes not match a correct version number is upgraded to the correctversion.

A program instruction that passes parameters from program code 1007 to asoftware application is checked to ensure that the instruction'sparameter list matches a parameter list required by the program code1007. Conversely, a parameter passed by the software application toprogram code 1007 is checked to ensure that the parameter matches aparameter required by program code 1007. The client and server operatingsystems, including the network operating systems, are identified andcompared to a list of operating systems, version numbers, and networksoftware programs that have been tested to work with program code 1007.An operating system, version number, or network software program thatdoes not match an entry of the list of tested operating systems andversion numbers is upgraded to the listed level on the client computersand upgraded to the listed level on the server computers.

After ensuring that the software, where program code 1007 is to bedeployed, is at a correct version level that has been tested to workwith program code 1007, the integration may be completed by installingprogram code 1007 on the clients and servers.

Elements of the embodiments have been introduced with either thearticles “a” or “an.” The articles are intended to mean that there areone or more of the elements. The terms “including” and “having” andtheir derivatives are intended to be inclusive such that there may beadditional elements other than the elements listed. The conjunction “or”when used with a list of at least two terms is intended to mean any termor combination of terms. The terms “first” and “second” are used todistinguish elements and are not used to denote a particular order.

While the invention has been described in detail in connection with onlya limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood thatthe invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, theinvention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations,alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretoforedescribed, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of theinvention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention havebeen described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention mayinclude only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, theinvention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, butis only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pick and place head comprising: a nozzleconfigured to pick up a component; an attachment mechanism for attachingthe pick and place head to a continuous circuitous track such that thepick and place head is movable along the continuous circuitous track;and a position sensing system for sensing the position of the pick andplace head with respect to the continuous circuitous track in two ormore dimensions.
 2. The pick and place head of claim 1, wherein thecomponent is an electronic component and wherein the nozzle isconfigured to place the component on a printed circuit board.
 3. Thepick and place head of claim 1, wherein the position sensing system isconfigured to sense the position of the attachment mechanism withrespect to the track.
 4. The pick and place head of claim 3, furthercomprising a spindle, wherein the position sensing system is configuredto sense the position of the spindle with respect to the track.
 5. Thepick and place head of claim 1, wherein the position sensing systemincludes two sensors for determining rotation of the pick and place headin a first plane.
 6. The pick and place head of claim 5, wherein theposition sensing system includes two sensors for determining rotation ofthe pick and place head in a second plane that is perpendicular to thefirst plane.
 7. The pick and place head of claim 1, wherein the positionsensing system provides sub-micron measurement accuracy.
 8. The pick andplace head of claim 1, wherein the position sensing system furtherincludes a sub-micron linear encoder read head that senses the positionof the pick and place head with respect to the track.
 9. The pick andplace head of claim 4, wherein the position sensing system includes sixproximity sensors that continuously sense the position of the spindlewith respect to the track in three perpendicular or substantiallyperpendicular axes.
 10. A method comprising: providing a pick and placehead; attaching the pick and place head to a continuous circuitous tracksuch that the pick and place head is movable along the continuouscircuitous track; sensing, by the pick and place head, the position ofthe pick and place head with respect to the continuous circuitous trackin two or more dimensions; picking up, by the pick and place head on thetrack, a component; and placing, by the pick and place head on thetrack, the component on an electronic assembly.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein the component is an electronic component and wherein theelectronic assembly is a printed circuit board.
 12. The method of claim10, sensing the position of an attachment mechanism of the pick andplace head with respect to the track, wherein the attachment mechanismis configured to attach the pick and place head to the continuouscircuitous track.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the pick and placefurther includes a spindle, and wherein the method further comprisessensing the position of the spindle with respect to the track.
 14. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising determining a rotation of thepick and place head in a first plane.
 15. The method of claim 14,further comprising determining a second rotation of the pick and placehead in a second plane that is perpendicular to the first plane.
 16. Themethod of claim 10, further comprising sensing the position of the pickand place head with sub-micron measurement accuracy.
 17. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising continuously sensing the position of thespindle with respect to the track in three perpendicular orsubstantially perpendicular axes.
 18. A pick and place head comprising:a spindle configured to pick up and place a component; an attachmentmechanism for attaching the pick and place head to a continuouscircuitous track such that the pick and place head is movable along thecontinuous circuitous track; and a position sensing system for sensingthe position of the pick and place head with respect to the continuouscircuitous track in two or more dimensions.
 19. The pick and place headof claim 18, wherein the component is an electronic component andwherein the spindle is configured to place the component on a printedcircuit board.
 20. The pick and place head of claim 18, wherein theposition sensing system is configured to sense the position of theattachment mechanism with respect to the track.